Moral Imagination: From Smart to Wise AI

Nathan C. Walker

Is “smart” the best we can imagine for this century’s technological advancements? 

Many harms caused by AI are not due to a lack of intelligence but to the moral distance between the people who own, build, and regulate AI systems and those affected by them. Think of the physical and cultural distance between those in Silicon Valley and a product’s deployment in a developing country, or the psychological distance between a technologist and the children using their AI companions. 

To bridge these gaps, Dr. Nathan C. Walker, founder of the AI Ethics Lab at Rutgers University, introduces moral imagination as an applied design practice: the ability to picture yourself in a moral dilemma involving AI to understand competing points of view. 

Unlike compliance protocols that can chill ethical reflection, this approach invites key players, from investors to developers and regulators of AI, to immerse themselves in case studies concerning technology’s impact on society. In doing so, they identify ethical blind spots and cultivate empathy for people whose lives are shaped by their decisions.

Given AI’s impact on every part of society, Moral Imagination also empowers users of AI to reject playing a passive role in technology’s advancements and become active moral agents. The stories speak directly to everyday people, shaping the responsible tech movement. Through engaging role-plays, this book offers educators, technologists, justice workers, and business leaders a shared ethical vocabulary for engaging the moral issues of our time. 

When we embed the practice of moral imagination into every stage of the AI lifecycle, we shift our focus from creating smart technology to empowering humans to make wise choices.